North Kelsey-Chain Lake roundabout work starting June 2Graphic courtesy City of Monroe

MONROE — The briskly traveled intersection at N. Kelsey Street and Chain Lake Road is getting a roundabout soon that should let traffic flow better.
The construction bid was awarded to Taylor’s Excavators, Inc. for $1.1 million earlier this month, and plans are being developed for a June 2 construction start date.
The roundabout is expected to finish construction by this fall.
More than 8,000 vehicles pass through the intersection every day.
The roundabout is “a job that’s got to get done and will benefit the city,” senior city engineer Jim Gardner said last week.
Taylor’s will build for 60 working days and the company is required to keep traffic flowing through the intersection during construction. However, drivers will be encouraged to also take alternate routes.
The roundabout is the last piece of the plan for the city’s North Kelsey improvement plan that began nearly a decade ago.
With thousands of vehicles traveling through the intersection daily, Gardner said the resulting roundabout will greatly improve the overall traffic flow.
“The studies seem to show that they improve traffic flow and reduce the severity of accidents because they slow traffic down,” he said. “There’s plusses and minuses.”